ULFA bandh hits life in upper Assam

A large scale protest by the Congress workers marked the beginning of week-long Nagar Suraj Abhiyan (city contact programme) that started on Monday across the state.

The programme is designed to take the governance at the doorsteps of the people living in the urban localities. The campaign is on the line of gram suraj abhiyan (village contact programme) that the Chhattisgarh government has been organizing once in a year to take the governance at the rural belt.

Under the campaign, the government officials will visit each ward in the city and hold a camp to register the grievances of the people. The Chief Minister, Raman Singh started the programme from Rajnandgaon that happens to be his home constituency in the legislative assembly. The government spokesperson claimed that the campaign received good response on the first day as people thronged different camps with their problems. “Cleanliness was the major issue that came up during the campaign,” the spokesperson said, adding that disproportionate electricity bill was another issue that many people raised.

The authorities have also received applications from the people for constructing public toilets, roads in the locality, drains and other civic amenities. People also brought to the notice of authorities the dearth of teachers in some of the government schools. In many wards, people demanded opening of police stations following law and order problem.

The opposition party, Congress has staged a large scale protest across the state against the campaign. The party has launched “save city” campaign as its counter. In Raipur, more than 300 Congress workers were arrested while they staged vehement protest against the campaign.

Reports reaching from Korba, Raigarh, Bilaspur, Rajnandgaon, Jagdalpur and other parts of the state said that Congress workers had come out on the streets to protest against the government campaign.

Chief Minister however ignored the Congress’ campaign and said the nagar suraj abhiyan would become a model in the country. “It is an effort to reach before the people and solve their problem,” he added.